Odisha CM’s security breached yet again

A 30-year-old youth from Padanpur village under Ghasipura police limits in Odisha’s Keonjhar district today managed to breach the tight security cordon around Chief Minister (CM) Naveen Patnaik and hand over a memorandum to him at Jayadev Bhawan here.

Sambhunath Maharana, a daily labourer, forcibly breached the security cordon to meet the Chief Minister with the memorandum while he was coming out of the Jayadev Bhawan towards his vehicle after attending a party meeting this afternoon.

After seeing the person rushing towards the CM, ACP Aseem Panda and other senior police officials tried to obstruct him, but failed.

The CM directed an official to receive the single sheet of memorandum from Maharana.Soon therefater, his vehicle left the spot amid high security.

While the Chief Minister himself was gracious enough to ask his officials to accept Sambunath’s memorandum, police showed him no mercy whatsoever.

After the incident, the security officers of the CM took Maharana into their custody and are interrogating him. Treating the man as an accused, Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of the Capital police station Manas Garanaik asked unnecessary questions aimed at harassing him. Instead of finding a solution for the victim, the IIC took the person to the police station in his police van.

Maharana, son of Ratnakar Maharana, said his family had been neglected by the Keonjhar district administration for years to get a house under Biju Paka Ghara and Mo Kudia Yojana implemented earlier by the State Government for the under-privileged persons living in rural areas.

Talking to OST, Maharana, who used to earn Rs 200 from his day work, said he and his family members had tried 15 times to meet the CM and his concerned officials and have registered complaint at the Chief Minister Grievances Cell in Bhubaneswar regarding this issue. Biut they have had to return to their place without getting justice.

“On July 1 this year, we get a receipt against a memorandum submitted to the officials at the Chief Minister’s residence regarding our plight. The receipt had directed the Ghasipura Block Development Officer (BDO) to consider our case. But on July 10 when we met the BDO to hand over the receipt, he refused to take our complaint,” alleged Maharana. The BDO told me he did not know who is the Chief Minister. The BDO further said he is the head of his office to deal with these cases and ignored to respond to ou plight, the victim added.

“After failing to get justice from all concerned departments of the state government today I took this bold step in handing over the memorandum to the Chief Minister,” he added.

Tight at the best of times, the Chief Minister’s security was tightened further after Youth and Student Congress activists managed to throw stones and eggs on his cavalcade while the CM was on his way to address a students’ union function at Utkal University campus here in February this year.

Late last year, activists of the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan had got close to the Chief Minister’s car as it was about to enter the secretariat, forcing the CM to retreat and enter his office through the back entrance.